Goodrich-Students in Ed Oset’s high school physics class learned a modern lesson using medieval technology.
The assignment this week, construct and demonstrate a trebuchet. A medieval engine of war with a sling for hurling missiles, or pumpkins for GHS students. For the most part, explains Oset, a trebuchet is similar to a catapult except it works using a system of counterweights.
Students were put into groups of five or six and were instructed to build their own trebuchet, no taller than 10 feet high and capable of throwing an object a minimum of 45 meters. They were not allowed to use springs or chemicals.
When the day ended, a pumpkin had been tossed 108 meters, the greatest distance for the project.